It's times like these that make me proud to be Canadian. The indie scene here is quite vast and is arguably the best in the world (along with Britain), and even the punk scene is expanding it's underground limitations and is getting released to the world. Alexisonfire. Protest the Hero. Silverstein. All successful, all Canadian. But my personal favorite is the indie scene, something that I hope to be a part of in the next ten years or so. Metric is among the bands in this scene, and thanks to the majorly successful singles from their new album
Live It Out, have gained world-wide recognition. This is their first album; fast punk hooks, synthesizers, and often a sense of new-age revivalism that is the main sound on this album.
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
The Players:
Emily Haines: Vocals, Synthesizers.
James Shaw: Guitar
Josh Winstead: Bass
Joules Scott-Key: Drums.
Like I said before, this album's main sound is new-age mixed with indie punk, and the result is fantastic. Although there are the odd few that don't stand up as the stronger tracks, this album has no bad songs. Not every song is different sounding, like it's easy to compare
Succexy to
Hustle Rose. Both songs are my personal favorites off the album, and both songs are similar in context. They both sport synthesizers almost posing as the lead guitar, have crunched guitars sporting power chords and the faint but rewarding if you listen to it bass. The victor of the two is probably
Succexy, as it has better lyrics and the hooks are many, especially the key riff introducing the sing-songish chorus. The bridge is also very nice to listen to. It contains clean guitar playing the same power chords as heard earlier, and featuring a great vocal performance from Emily, talking about some racey subjects. Overall, this song is almost lullaby-esque, with it's beautiful melodies and it's overall ability to grove and move. However, better songs surface as you listen more. The followup to
Succexy is the melodic and dark
Combat Baby, which boasts better perfomances by all. It also is more energetic than most tracks on the album. With it's powerful chorus featuring a passionate Emily waving goodbye to her Combat baby, with the clean, powerful chords and pounding drums to compliment the great bass riff that fits the vocals finely. The bridge is even better, with the first notable solo on the album. For the lyrics on this song, it's very anti-war, and probably out-passions most lyrics on the album. Overall, this song is a winner.
There are a few punkish songs on here, but they don't stand out as much as the new-wave songs. One of the best is
Wet Blanket, which sports crunched guitars playing fierce chords riding under an agile Emily, as she sings about a girl who keeps on falling for the creep. The rest lyrically is pretty subtle as it really doesn't make that much sense. But the song itself is very enjoyable, especially the dynamite chorus with simple chords and and the sing-songish doo-doo-do-dos that occupy the vocal part. This song has various punk influences around it, but most notable the rhythm section. The bass is fast and carries many notes, and the drums are fast and repetetive. The song doesn't have too much to offer after the extended bridge, with it's fantastic melodies and guitar riffs, but it's always fun to listen.
Dead Disco is the most punk of them. It sports, again, fast drums and bass but less than exciting guitars. It's when Emily comes in when it becomes a great song. This song really doesn't offer anything new, but it's an extremely fun song with some great lyrics that suggest that rock n' roll, funk and disco are dead Amen!
This album has other songs that have they're own genre, if you will. A lullaby (Love is a Place) is present, as well as new-age-indie-rock n' roll-punk (IOU). The better of the two is my second favorite song on the album.
Love is a Place is short but effective on the album nontheless. It showcases a sensetive side of Metric, with it's pretty chords and lack of drums and bass. The duo of Emily and James in this song is something almost unmatched on the album, as they force through 2:09 of insisting that love is a place. After hearing this song, I'm sure it is. They make it so damn promising, while not revealing a location. The chords are constintaly changing, adding a variety of moods to the song. Sad. Mournful. Happy. It's all here. So you could do worse with 2:10 than listen to this song.
IOU is less epic, though it's twice as long. It's still a great song, though. It's relatively fast paced, until it's slower, more melodic verse that leads into a faster chorus with some downright great lyrics. This song represents the album well, as it has bits and pieces of each genre showcased in this song. Though that sounds like a great idea, it affects the song too much. It would've been better if they focused on one and sticked with it. It's still a great song, though.
Overall this album owns hard. There aren't any bad songs, but there are a lack of memorable ones. I suggest that you download
Combat Baby,
Succexy and
Love is a Place, or just spend a good $10 on the album itself. You won't regret it. It's a great listen.
Thanks for reading, AV8RS
Every ten year-old enemy soldier
Thinks falling bombs are shooting stars sometimes
But she doesn't make wishes on them
When she wishes, she wishes for less ways to wish for
More ways to work toward it
Ten year-old enemy soldier
Our falling bombs are her shooting stars
